The 2015 Ford Edge. |
Then I looked out the window. Smoke thick as London fog and falling from it, in our driveway, ash from the Butte Fire in nearby Amador County. Inhaling it would be a very bad idea. Navigator had things to do, so I did one of my least favorite things since we've been together...took a road-trip alone.
2015 Ford Edge. |
Destination: San Francisco. 30 degrees cooler, smoke-free, ocean air. Unable to spend the night, this was going to be an over and back trip...250 miles. Pretty much a breeze (apart from increasingly unpredictable Northern California traffic) when I'm well, but this could have been a stretch.
Yet the 2015 Ford Edge kept me comfortable...something I hadn't been in days. An 8-hour day (four of it at the wheel) and I wasn't exhausted when I got home.
Our tester was the Titanium AWD model. Base price $37,595 spectacularly well-equipped (click here for the rundown) and powered by the 2.0-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder. As we wrote in our review of the 2015 Mustang convertible (powered by a 2.3-liter EcoBoost), Ford's turbo fours are great engines. Six-cylinder power (the 2.0 is rated at 245 horsepower) with four-cylinder economy (EPA estimate 20 city/28 highway...I pulled an even 27 on the SF trip and 26 for the week as a whole, with Sacramento urban freeways and city streets mixed in).
2015 Ford Edge interior. |
Apart from $395 for the gorgeous Bronze Fire Tinted clear coat paint, there was only one option...Equipment Group 302A, which brings voice-activated navigation, blind-spot monitoring, remote start, an auto-dim exterior mirror, heated steering wheel, heated rear seats and heated and cooled front seats as well as lane departure warning, enhanced park assist, panoramic vista roof, a 180 degree front camera, rain-sensing wipers, and second-row inflatable safety belts for $5,645. With destination and delivery charges of $895, the total was $44,530.
But wait! There are discounts! Ford took $445 off the sticker for equipment group discounts and there was also a $500 AWD discount, bringing the actual bottom line to $43,585. Cheap? No. Good value for money paid? Yes. In the world of five-passenger SUVs, the Edge is a strong contender.